Yesterday’s RSI pain spread across the two shoulders, incorporated the neck and spawned a headache by this morning which kept me from working. There was just no way that with the continued pain I was going to go back to the same activity that caused it in the first place. Not to mention the fact that my laptop seems to be requiring anywhere from 1 to 4 clicks in order to register a single click. Not ideal conditions when I am already in trouble. So I stayed home and slept. And took some Excedrin to quell the headache and some of the pain. Now I’m only on long enough to check my email (both home and work) and do a couple of quick things. I don’t want to aggravate the RSI any more than I already have. Which means I might not be blogging this weekend, in favor of stitching, hopefully.

On a more happy note, we’re going out with a group of college (and work, as we all work for the same company) friends tonight for dinner. With that said, it’s time for me to sign off and go take a shower, as I have some errands to run before we leave for dinner. We’re going to Hibachi and getting an early start to dinner so that we can take advantage of the early bird special to reduce costs, as some members of the party are a bit strapped in the financial department right now. Besides, 50% off dinner always sounds good, if the timing is manageable. 🙂

It’s a beautiful, only now becoming partly cloudy day outside today. The sky is a lovely shade of blue. Too bad the temperature won’t get above freezing and it’s windy, too. Terry just came in from being at a meeting and the poor guy was chilled!

On the work front, I’m developing some RSI symptoms in my shoulders due to the repetitive work that I’ve been doing lately. It’s been coming on at the end of the day in one shoulder and I go home and rest it, but today, it’s in both shoulders. I was going to take a half-day, but Terry went out for sushi after his meeting, just getting to our building a little bit ago in time to inform me that he had a 3 PM meeting that he had forgotten about. *groan* Oh well, I guess the rest will have to wait until after that meeting, as well. Something told me that I should work from home today. Maybe I should listen next time? 🙂

Other than that, though, it’s been a good day so far and I’m just happy to be here!

What is your cross stitch weakness? (i.e., What do you have to have when you see it, even if you are supposed to be on the Wagon?)

My weakness happens to be limited edition designs by my favorite designers. If you couldn’t tell already, Just Nan is one of my biggest weaknesses. And she happens to oblige by putting out limited editions on a fairly regular basis. My most recent purchase was the limited edition WhimZi called Peter Cottontail. Mostly because he will fit so nicely into my set of seasonal WhimZis that I display in my cubicle at work. I also made sure I was placed on the reservation list for Barnabee’s Bride while I was at it. This one will be released in March and may be the perfect piece to get my restarted on Barnabee’s Quest.

Do you have any projects that you have scrapped and started over? What made you start over from scratch?

I have scrapped two projects, both of which are BAPs (at least, to me they are). The first was Bonsai and Buddha. I had to completely rip out every last stitch and restart the piece because it’s stitched on printed aida and I realized that there was a specific directionality to the print that was being violated from whence I started. The second was Fairy Moon. I decided that I didn’t like the fabric that I had original picked, so I bought another piece. I’m not totally sure that I had any stitches in that one, though.

Are there other crafts that you have tried and abandoned? Why do you like stitching better?

I actually have tried my hand at many crafts for which I still have the supplies but which I don’t take the time to do anymore. These include candle making, soap making, Gallery Glass, painting miniature plaster buildings, etc. I don’t have the heart to sell off the supplies, since I can always get back into them whenever I want. The one craft that I haven’t totally let go of (besides stitching) is scrapbooking. I’m stuck right now because I finished our honeymoon album and don’t know what to work on next.

I don’t know why I like stitching better. Probably because it fits into my lifestyle better, allowing me to work on it practically anywhere. Besides, it’s the oldest craft in my repertoire. 🙂

Have you had a happy dance yet this year? If so, tell us about it! (Or just point to the entry that mentions it.) If not, when do you predict it will be?

No happy dances for me yet this year, as I haven’t been stitching for quite a while. I did kit up Just Nan’s Butterfly Heart last night, as much as I could, as I’m missing a couple of the DMCs. I believe that this will probably be my first happy dance, but as I’m still napping after I get home from work, I probably won’t start on it until the weekend and I don’t know when I will finish it.

Yes, it’s true. I’m blogging again. Hard to believe I haven’t done so in a month. I don’t think I’ve touched a needle in that time, either, which is even harder to believe.

The depression is waning. The psychiatrist thinks that we jumped into taking me off of one of the bipolar medications (which also has antidepressant properties) too soon; while I was still coming up to therapeutic levels of the new bipolar med. So, she put me back on a low dose of the medication and I’m feeling better.

It’s been a long, hard road this winter. My therapist keeps telling me that I’m a trooper and that I’m doing everything right, so I have good support in that area.

I also have all of the wonderful comments that keep coming in, wondering where I am, a postcard from Barbara and even a gift from Dawn! Check out her blog to see the post with a lovely picture of the heart box that she made for me to lift my spirits. I have a great support system in all of my blogging friends! THANK YOU!

Most importantly, I am learning how to manage my depression. I know that going into work is critical for me, both to help keep me busy and distracted, as well as the social element. Working from home is not an option right now, unless Terry stays with me. Even now, I still tend to crash out on the couch after dinner. Weekends are a bit harder, unless I have something planned like going out to dinner or something. I tend to turn into a little hermit on the weekends, which just seems to exacerbate the depression, especially while it’s still cold out.

As I said, I haven’t stitched at all this month (yet). I ordered smaller new Just Nan pieces from Drema at Needlecraft Corner to try to help me kickstart my stitching again. They arrived yesterday, so now all I have to do is kit one up and get stitching. Maybe tonight, if I’m not feeling tired again when I get home.

So, that’s it for me right now. I had to mark all of your lovely blog feeds as read so that I can start from scratch; otherwise, I’d never be able to keep up. Look for comments from me as you post anew.